Art Spiel – Page 134 – Contemporary Art and Culture

Artist Interview by Etty Yaniv

Debra Ramsay: Painting Time

Debra Ramsay embraces “beauty” as a core in her work. Throughout her installations and paintings she reflects on the relationship between color, light, time, and place with a minimalist’s impulse and a colorist’s flair. Mara Williams, the curator of “Painting Time”, her recent show at Brattleboro Museum, eloquently describes it as both “reductionist and exuberant.” In this interview for Art Spiel the artist elaborates on her background, ideas, and projects.

[caption id="attachment_1920" align="alignnone" width="375"] Debra Ramsay, Painting Time Exhibition, 2018, acrylic on museum board and polyester resin film, photo courtesy of the artist[/caption]

Artist Interview by Etty Yaniv

Nancy Cohen – One Substance from the Start

Nancy Cohen‘s sensibility for the ephemeral is evident throughout her wide range of forms – from small sculptural pieces to large scale room installations. With fluid agility she utilizes diverse material such as glass, paper, rubber, and ceramics, to form a thematically rigorous body of work – both visceral and inquisitive. The artist shares with Art Spiel some of her ideas on process, use of material, themes, and projects.

[caption id="attachment_1738" align="aligncenter" width="360"] Nancy Cohen, Merge, 2018, Handmade paper, 81 x 68 inches, photo courtesy of Edward Fausty[/caption]

Exhibition Review by Lorrie Fredette

Remnants: Hour Upon Hour

By Lorrie Fredette

It is the nature of performance art that each iteration will be unique. Remnants: Hour Upon Hour by Rena Leinberger and Thomas Albrecht at Woodstock Artists Association & Museum on Sunday, 16 September 2018 was distinctive and captivating.

[caption id="attachment_1978" align="alignnone" width="500"] Remnants: Hour Upon Hour by Rena Leinberger and Thomas Albrecht at Woodstock Artists Association & Museum[/caption]

Exhibition Review by Nina Meledandri

Paint, Film, Thread: Three Current Shows

By Nina Meledandri

All Photos courtesy of Nina Meledandri

[caption id="attachment_1998" align="alignnone" width="450"] Louise Bourgeois, Sutures, 1993, Mixed Media[/caption]

When an exhibition feeds you, enlightens you, or centers you, it remains with you. Each of the three shows below resonate with me for very different reasons and collectively they create a rich and thought provoking reminder of why we look at art.

Sutures at Mark Straus Gallery presents works which rely in some way on fabric, thread, weaving and/or sewing. The title is shared with one of the show’s focal points: a Louise Bourgeois sculpture, that is itself worth the visit.

studio visit by Sharilyn Neidhardt

Cheat Sheet – BOS 2018

By Sharilyn Neidhardt

CLIP AND SAVE!

This is my cheat sheet for BOS 2018. It is by no means comprehensive but these are some of things I plan to check out over the weekend. I look forward to seeing many friends and colleagues out at the studios.

Artist Interview by Etty Yaniv

Katya Grokhovsky’s Rigorous Play

Katya Grokhovsky‘s performances and sculptural works embody raw energy fueled by her rigorous and uncompromising process. Grokhovsky’s work is extreme, fearless, cohesive, and ambitious. With great agility she combines media like performance, video, drawing, and sculpture to create immersive environments that delve us deep into a chaotic unknown – the complexity of self, the duplicity of social norms, the twilight zones of life and art. In this interview for Art Spiel Grokhovsky elaborates on her impetus, ideas, and projects as a prolific artist and curator.

[caption id="attachment_2082" align="alignnone" width="500"] Katya Grokhovsky,Bad Woman, 2017, video still[/caption]

studio visit by Catherine Kirkpatrick

A Visit With Linda Schmidt

By Catherine Kirkpatrick

All Photos by Catherine Kirkpatrick

Just as it is hard to look at certain Matisse paintings and not feel the radiant sun of the Cote d’Azur, it is hard to see a piece by Linda Schmidt and not imagine a beautiful light-filled space. Recently she invited me to her studio that looks out over the low industrial rooftops of Bushwick, and seems, even on overcast days to be bright and filled with serenity.

[caption id="attachment_2055" align="alignnone" width="500"] Linda Schmidt working on a canvas[/caption]

Artist Interview by Etty Yaniv

Melissa Stern – Walking the Line

Melissa Stern‘s artworks depict abstracted narratives with complex emotional layers, projecting altogether an urgent psychological presence. The figures in her drawings and sculptures inhabit an absurd universe which is darkly funny in a deeply felt way. Her imagery is precise, poetic, and overall underscores a close affinity with language – bringing to mind an artist who is both an acute observer and a witty commentator. That said, it is Stern’s sensibility of raw and expressive forms that makes her not only an observant narrator but also an empathetic participant in her own human comedy. The artist shares with Art Spiel her modes of thinking, process of making, and some plans, including her solo show opening on Oct 11 at Garvey Simon Gallery.

[caption id="attachment_1680" align="aligncenter" width="393"] Melissa Stern, Red Boots 30 x 8 x 10 inches, Clay, graphite, object, linoleum, 2016[/caption]

Exhibition Review by Etty Yaniv

Wild World closing at Cross Contemporary Art

Wild World: Ashley GARRETT, Catherine HOWE and Lily PRINCE, the current painting exhibition at at Cross Contemporary Art opened on Sat. September 8th. On Sunday, September 30th Richard Klin will be reading from his novel, Petroleum Transfer Engineer, at the Cross Contemporary Gallery in Saugerties, NY at 4:00 PM. Klin is also the author of two nonfiction books. Klin’s work–fiction and nonfiction–has been featured on Public Radio International’s Studio 360 and has appeared in the Brooklyn Rail, the Atlantic, the Forward, Flyover Country Review, Adelaide, NPR’s All Things Considered and others.

[caption id="attachment_1965" align="alignnone" width="500"] Ashley Garrett, Sossusvlei, 2017, oil on canvas[/caption]

Artist Interview by Etty Yaniv

Anne Gilman: Marking Beneath the Surface

[caption id="attachment_1889" align="alignnone" width="333"] Anne Gilman, Up close / in the distance / now, 2018, pencil, graphite, tape, ink, BIC ballpoint pen, matte medium on mulberry paper, 340 x 38 inches, photo courtesy of the artist[/caption]

The surface of Anne Gilman’s scrolls and drawings is characterized by incisive and often repetitive graphic marks which altogether create portals to the artist’s fluid emotive states. In her Interview for Art Spiel, Gilman reflects on the roots of her intricate process-oriented approach and also sheds light on some of her current projects.